


Final Rose

by Missy



Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Canon Rewrite, F/F, Genderswap, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 14:37:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19725670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/pseuds/Missy
Summary: Ada's only mildly annoyed by the appearance of the strange inventor on her doorstep.  She's used to strange.  She's been dealing with this curse for years.





	Final Rose

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SkyRose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyRose/gifts).



Ada is very lucky that Maurice happens to stumble into the right woods at the right time, looking for shelter and desiring warmth. She’s lucky but she doesn’t know it. The only thing she knows she wants when she storms downstairs to yell at him is that she wants him far away from her – from the secret she has brewing up in the attic.

It’s only fair that he come back of course. And it’s only fair that she not live alone, cursed to the cold and dreary loneliness of life as a beast.

****

**~~**************************************************************************~~**

She was a girl once, and a beautiful one at that. Her hair was long and blonde, her eyes were sharp and bright, and her disposition was…

….Well it wasn’t that great. Her tutors despised her and she ran through them the way normal people ran through goblets of wine. She had no real friends among the courtiers who attended her – courtiers closer to the servants, who wouldn’t dare gainsay her opinions. Her parents – the king and queen – adored her. When the plague took them, she mourned so viciously that her advisers worried for her. 

It was into such a tantrum that an old crone arrived. And in Ada’s opinion she was right to mock the crone. She was so ugly! Her gnarled features barely registered as human to Ada. And so, she was cruel. Not to excess, or so she thought.

At least until she was transformed into a beast twice her typical size, with sable-colored fur, sharp teeth and even sharper claws. The servants and courtiers, too, were transformed – into household objects.

There was surprisingly little resentment from most of them on this subject. But Cogsworth – whenever he scolded her over the ensuing weeks - reminded her that she had no need to be so hostile. Unfortunately for them, Ada was hostile most days, and the servants were smart enough to keep away from her for the majority of the next six years, until she neared her majority and Maurice trespassed upon her domain. Upstairs, the rose connected to her fate began to wilt, petal by petal. With a handmirror, she searched the world for a prince to break the spell, but none suited her. The pressure mounted. If she reached her twenty-first birthday without change, she would remain a beast forever.

****

**~~**************************************************************************~~**

The man’s daughter wasn’t expected, either, but she was far more hostile than her old man. Ada makes the deal with her because she feels like a more interesting companion. The girl – Belle – is incredibly smart – and incredibly resentful. She countermanded all of Ada’s orders and refused to speak to her. Not until she was treated with common civility. 

Their first argument ended with a demand. “I’ll come down when you file your nails!” Belle shouted, and slammed the door in her face.

Ada turned to Lumiere. “What’s wrong with my nails?!”

“They’re…a bit long,” he finally said diplomatically. 

“My nails are fine! Everything about me is fine! She’s the one being unreasonable!” Ada stormed.

“Now, your highness, you might be overreacting a bit…” 

“My, Ada's overreaction is something that’s a sight to behold,” Mrs. Potts observed.

“And she is in a passionate mood,” said Cogsworth.

“Do you think she could be the one?” Lumiere asked.

“She’s a girl!” Mrs. Potts whispered in dismay over Ada’s shoulder as Belle explored the castle and drove Ada up the wall by poking into every nook and cranny that didn’t belong to her. 

“That doesn’t matter where l’amour is concerned,” Lumiere pointed out.

“I can hear you!” Ada snapped.

“Be nice,” Mrs. Potts begged her. “She might be your chance!”

Ada doubted that.

****

**~~**************************************************************************~~**

By the time Belle left the castle and nearly got herself chewed up by a pack of wolves, Ada was willing to admit to herself that she was pretty probably her only chance. The more interesting development was that she wanted Belle to be her only chance. There was such spirit to her, such willingness to grow.

So she bent a little bit. Just a little. She let Belle read to her, and that was a surprisingly pleasant activity. She refurbished the library in the east wing for her, and Belle acted as if Ada had given her the whole world with a wave of her hand. They spent pleasant nights together and happy days, reading, playing in the mountainous white snow outside the window, and talking together. 

When her birthday arrived, Belle insisted upon combing her fur and selecting a ballgown – a royal blue one, to contrast with the yellow one Belle had salvaged from Ada’s mother’s wardrobe. “You look almost brand-new,” Belle had declared. And Ada supposed she truly did. Her fur was neat and shiny, her clothing carefully arranged, and her claws – yes – finally trimmed and filed down.

After a night of dancing it was an act of trust to allow Belle to use the enchanted hand mirror. And the mirror showed her terrible things – there was a man at home who had pursued her, and who was now persecuting her father and hoped to slay Ada. 

Belle had a choice – and Ada realized only later that she had given the girl one: to come or to go. Belle chose her father.

Ada understood. For the first time in her life, she understood.

****

**~~**************************************************************************~~**

The battle passed by in a blur of horror and struggle. Ada remembers little until Belle found her, gathered her up into her arms, and told her that she loved her.

The world went golden, went white and blue, and suddenly Ada felt her body transform, shape-shifting back to its original form. Back to the girl she used to be.

When Ada managed to open her eyes again, Belle was holding her, kneeling – looking relieved. And then she rose an eyebrow at the sight before her. Perhaps it was her eyes that gave away the game, marked her out as the beast she had been.

“This is quite a secret,” Belle said. “But I should have guessed there was someone different hiding under those claws and daggers.”

“Are you disappointed?” asked Ada. To be loved as a beast is one thing, but to have the beast become a human is quite another.

“No,” Belle said, and pulled her close.

Their kiss was all the proof Ada needed.


End file.
